This will keep the Vampires Away

Thanks to everyone who entered the Stonyfield Farms Oikos Yogurt Giveaway.....I used random.org to pick the winner, and it was #3, The Pursuit of Healthfulness! Congrats!

Mike is out of town most of this week, as well as next week, so I'm faced with Cooking For One. I'm not a cereal for dinner type person, I still want to sit down to a hot meal at the end of the day. We ate out and had takeout several times over the weekend, so yesterday's lunch was Bang Bang Shrimp in a whole wheat tortilla (Bonefish Grill leftovers) and dinner was Pra Ram Long Song leftovers from my favorite Tai restaurant. I ran six miles this morning so I might let myself have some pasta for dinner tonight.

I thought I would share my favorite homemade soup, Garlic and Brie. It's actually pretty healthy, minus the cheese, and I think Mike found the recipe years ago in a copy of Bon Appetit magazine. We made a double batch a couple of weekends ago, and just a cup of it is perfect for an afternoon snack. Give it a whirl, just don't expect anyone to kiss you afterwards.

Garlic and Brie Soup

5 heads of garlic

1 large vidalia onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, diced

1 large carrot, diced

1/4 cup flour

6 cups of chicken stock (your own, or an organic, no salt broth)

1 teaspoon of chopped fresh oregano, or 1/2 teaspoon dried

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried

7 ounces of Brie, with the rind removed, and cut into slices

olive oil, kosher salt, pepper

blender, or submersion blender (which is easier)

1. Roast the garlic. Usually I cut the heads off, brush with olive oil and a pinch of kosher salt, put it on aluminum foil, and bake for an hour at 375 until brown. When cooled, squeeze the garlic out of their skins, into a dish and smash into a paste. The last time we made it, we broke the garlic down into segments, and tossed them in oil and salt, then roasted them for about a half hour. It was easier to get the garlic out of the segments this way.

2. Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan, over medium heat. Sautee onion until soft, about 10 minutes. Add celery and carrot, sautee another 10 minutes. Add flour, and stir for a couple of minutes until it turns golden.

3. Slowly add stock, and garlic, and bring to a boil while stirring often. Turn heat to low and simmer 10-15 minutes until soup thickens a bit.

4. Time to puree the soup, take it off the heat. Either use a submersion blender to puree everything until smooth, or pour one cup of soup at a time into a blender, and blend.

5. Once smooth, return soup to saucepan if you used a blender, and add oregano, thyme, salt and pepper to taste, then bring soup back up to simmer on medium/low heat.

6. When you're ready to serve, put soup into bowls, and add brie so that it melts, but doesn't completely dissolve.

It's soooo good with a crusty bread, enjoy!